5 Reasons I'm Not Retiring Early

[ATC Guy]

First Person: 5 Reasons I'm Not Retiring Early - Yahoo! Finance

Maybe we've got it all wrong.

 

[REWahoo]

The five reasons:

1. I don't do poor
2. I don't count on Social Security
3. I would be bored
4. Work provides a social outlet
5. It will keep me in shape

Of course he left off the real number one reason: I lack the self-discipline to delay gratification and am in debt up to my eyeballs.

 

[ATC Guy]

I thought this was a joke when I read the title of the article. Maybe someone making a satire on reasons people choose to not retire early. Instead it was an actual article with all the common excuses people give for not taking the time and discipline to invest in themselves so they can enjoy life.

 

[Nords]

I kept looking for the "Just kidding, this is sarcasm!" emoticon. Now I'm just feeling sorry for them.

Without work, I may become bored. If you are in a helping profession, you get paid to take care of others. People in creative professions, including yours truly, get personal satisfaction out of their livelihood. I don't want to be the gray-haired lady who gets the senior citizen discount at the pancake house. I want to keep my professional identity. Using my brain may even prevent Alzheimer's disease .

If I retired, I'm afraid I'd vegetate. With my career, I am always on the go. Even though I'm frequently on the computer, I tend to stand. I rarely sit still. A lot of retired people I know gain weight because they take up sedentary hobbies and attend groups that revolve around food.

Well, I hope they make lots of income and keep paying FICA!

Thanks for the link, ATC Guy. For a minute there I thought you'd suffered some personal financial catastrophe, but I'm gonna get an easy 800-word blog post out of this one.

Anyone else care to contribute their quotes?

 

[Dawg52]

5 reasons I did retire.......

1. I'm not poor
2. SS is just gravy if I get it
3. I was bored at work
4. Having time to play golf gives me a social outlet
5. Now I have time to exercise and stay in shape


Idiots.

 

[RockyMtn]

What a crock...

Notice at the bottom of this article there are other articles by the same author. One is titled:

"My Lame Excuses for Not Saving For Retirement"

I might suggest that she won't retire early because she is unprepared to do so!

 

[nun]

And retiring early probably means at 60 as well

 

[unclemick]

1. I was layed off.

2. Then I got pissed.

3. I discovered financial independence allows one to be pissed off.

4. Pissed off is better than pissed on.

5. Taking time time to become a curmudgeon on your own terms is a lot of fun.

heh heh heh - it is sometimes amazing what media produces to fill time and space.

 

[Koogie]

5 Reasons I'm not Retiring Early -
1. "because I am such a moron I can only write substandard articles for Yahoo"

 

[Badger]

"Using my brain may even prevent Alzheimer's disease ."

Too late!

Cheers!

 

[FIREd]

I love it when people with zero early retirement experience write articles telling others why early retirement is such a bad idea...

 

[Koogie]

FIREd:I love it when people with zero early retirement experience write articles telling others why early retirement is a bad idea...""

You, sir/madam, are a god amongst moderators...

 

[heirloom]

There are a lot of people who end up going back to work because they get bored staying at home. Usually these are people with no hobbies or interests. OR, sometimes they go back as temporary helpers making more than they did when they worked.

But I'm glad some people think this way because that is more money that I can rely on that will go towards FICA. It's getting scary out there because the gov. is thinking of cutting taxes more, which will contribute less into the SS fund.

 

[Amethyst]

I think I just found my new motto. Probably would sound better translated into Latin, though.

1
4. Pissed off is better than pissed on.

 

[traineeinvestor]

At the risk of putting myself in line for some of this , I actually thought that the author had a few valid points:

Reason 1: the only things I know about the author are what appears in the article - including that she spent her

20s living far below [her] means so that [she] could get out of debt and save to buy a house

. She also mentions that her mortage would have been paid off for decades. This does not sound like someone who has failed to take at least some degree of responsibility for her finances. I inferred that she intends to keep working, not because he has to, but because she wants additional money to "blow". To a certain extent every voluntary early retiree has to make a trade off between a greater financial standard of living and fewer years in the work force - if we were prepared to live on less we could have gone earlier. Is her analysis all that different?

Reason 2: depending on my age and my awareness of economic reality, I wouldn't be willing to rely on SS or any other pay as you go retirement scheme either. Assuming nothing is a bit extreme, but it's more prudent than assuming that you will get the same benefits in real terms as current retirees.

Reason 3: if she would be bored to the point where washing her socks would be the highlight of her week, then continuing working may be the right thing for her. It can't imagine how, in this interconnected world of ours, anyone could be seriously bored - personally I think she's just making a weak excuse with this one. That said, it would appear that she derives a lot of personal satisfaction from her job. If she's happy doing what she's doing and doesn't see herself getting the same or better personal fulfillement elsewhere then carrying on may be the right choice for her.

Reason 4: this is a legitimate concern for many retirees - leave your job and your social interaction falls away. If she is genuinely in the situation where she does not have meaningful social interaction with other people independent of her work environment than perhaps she should hang around at least until she's developed some new friendships. Isolation is not good for one's mental health. That said, it's not that hard to create opportunities to interact with others so, at best, this reason has short term legitimacy only.

Reason 5: I call BS on this one. The only excuse for not staying in shape physically (and mentally for that matter) is medical. Anything else is laziness.

And of course, at least she won't be called selfish and unpatriotic: http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/prof-says-er-is-selfish-unpatriotic-34623.html

 

[Gumby]

I inferred that she intends to keep working, not because he has to, but because she wants additional money to "blow". To a certain extent every voluntary early retiree has to make a trade off between a greater financial standard of living and fewer years in the work force - if we were prepared to live on less we could have gone earlier. Is her analysis all that different?

Her intention 'now' is to work for additional money. I would venture a prediction that her attitude on this may well change once she has a few more years under her belt and a greater appreciation of her own mortality. When I was 20, I had all the time in the world, but no money. I therefore placed a higher value on money. Now that I am in my 50s, I have much more money and much less time left. Accordingly, I value my time more highly.

 

[Spanky]

Now that I am in my 50s, I have much more money and much less time left. Accordingly, I value my time more highly.

I definitely share your sentiment. Having more time is more important than acquiring more money or wealth.

 

[flyfishnevada]

Work as a social outlet and fitness plan. Really? How is sitting in front of a computer writing crappy articles any more like exercise than sitting you're couch watching TV? As for the social aspect, I'd rather spend time with a couple of good friends than be forced to spend my time with a bunch of people that I fantasize about running over in the parking lot.

 

[scrabbler1]

Good responses here, everyone, I liked reading them.

As for me, my 5 reasons for retiring early:

(1) I hated the increasingly sickening commute more every day.

(2) I had the money. (And even if SS is reduced or eliminated, I will still be just fine.)

(3) Working, even part-time (2 days a week in the last 17 months and generally part-time the last 7 years) had interfered with my growing outside life in those 7 years, as it had become a juggling act.

(4) I hated the increasingly sickening commute more every day.

(5) I hated the increasingly sickening commute more every day.

I never saw work as a social outlet. I was mostly a loner, especially from the mid-1990s and later. In my 23 years there I never had any interest in attending the annual December holiday party (and was proud of my non-attendance).

 

[traineeinvestor]

Her intention 'now' is to work for additional money. I would venture a prediction that her attitude on this may well change once she has a few more years under her belt and a greater appreciation of her own mortality. When I was 20, I had all the time in the world, but no money. I therefore placed a higher value on money. Now that I am in my 50s, I have much more money and much less time left. Accordingly, I value my time more highly.

So do I (and I reached that point long before my current age of 45), but it would appear that the author values money more than her remaining time. It looks like a poor deal to me, but she's entitled to spend her time how she wishes.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Work as a social outlet and fitness plan. Really? How is sitting in front of a computer writing crappy articles any more like exercise than sitting you're couch watching TV? As for the social aspect, I'd rather spend time with a couple of good friends than be forced to spend my time with a bunch of people that I fantasize about running over in the parking lot.

I would too, but I doubt if much time went into the article and she would have at least had to discuss it with an editor .... oh wait.....this is Yahoo! we are talking about....

Actually, writing an article (regardless of its merits or lack thereof) has to be more stimulating than merely sitting passivly infront of the TV?

 

[urn2bfree]

I call BS on the "I'll be bored" explanation. Anyone who says they would be bored if they retire early must therefore be planning to never retire. If you will be bored at 52, what would be not boring at 65, or 67, or 70 or whatever is not "early" retirement.?

 

[Moscyn]

All 5 reasons are just excuses for many who do not have the courage to move on when it is time to do so. Whilst the 5 reasons sound so lame, it comes as no surprise that we hear them so often from our friends too. Granted there are quite a few who truly love their jobs - for these, I'll tell them to stay on since they are enjoying what they do.

 

[Huston55]

I'd rather spend time with a couple of good friends than be forced to spend my time with a bunch of people that I fantasize about running over in the parking lot.

Can you come to my parking lot...Please!

 

[ratto]

But I'm glad some people think this way because that is more money that I can rely on that will go towards FICA. It's getting scary out there because the gov. is thinking of cutting taxes more, which will contribute less into the SS fund.

Don't worry. As long as the majority population is sharing the 5 reasons being given, the remaining ER minority should be fine.